Gloomy days of winter.

I wondered this morning as a peered out the window at the foggy, gloomy morning if I will ever be able to get myself up and out of bed before work for a quick session now that winter is upon us, or if I am truly destined to be merely a poorly weekend warrior from now til spring?   This time last year I had just had my shoulder surgery (happy one year anniversary to me!) so I was out of the water for all of December, January and February anyhow so it wasn’t a question or issue.  Now, I feel sad by the idea of only being able to surf once or twice a week, and yet I seriously doubt I will be able to pull myself from the warmth of my bed to stumble down to the beach in the cold, dreary, pre-dawn morning for a quick session.  Oh the drama of it all…

On another note, i just learned that my ex’s father just lost one of his eyes to ocular cancer.  Now that’s drama.  Shit.

Thanksgiving Surf Report Recap.

A tale of two swells. Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Venice were quite good. Shape was decent with some fun, peaky waves in the waist to chest high size, if not just a bit inconsistent.  I  will confess, however, that I did not paddle out on Thanksgiving Day because I was still a bit sick and I was, ahem, just a bit hung over.  So much for that tradition.  But whatever I missed on Turkey Day I made up for on Friday and Saturday. Had a great time surfing both days with good friends and really enjoyed being out in Venice.

Then the new swell hit on Sunday and Venice was terrible. TERRIBLE I say.  Absolutely closed out with no shoulders to speak of. Water was dirty.  It was foggy and gross and shape was as bad as it gets in Venice. This swell direction was not kind at all to Venice. I heard that Porto was also totally closed out.  I did hear, though, that the PV Cove was going off with sets up to 12ft and good shape. So, there were good waves to be had out there with the swell that hit on Sunday, just not in Venice.

All in all, though, a good weekend for surf.  Back to work.  Back to the grind.

The addiction.

Blogging is kind of like a drug addiction – just when you think you can’t do this anymore and you have to give it, walk away, take a break because life gets in the way, or it gets “complicated” or it has worn you out, it has this strange pull that draws you back.   Whatever it was that made you want to express your thoughts and experiences in this way keeps creeping back, and just when you think you have no more to say, you are tapped out, dried up and regurgitating the same material over and over and you finally walk away, well, it never really is over.

Why do I bring this up?  Because I have discovered that a former blogger with a rad site and very witty posts (far more entertaining than my banalities) is back.  After a long hiatus, he has started blogging again, much to my enjoyment.  I, too, took a break for a few months and then came creeping back for more.   It’s the nature of blogging.  It’s the addiction.  It’s the love/hate of it all.  And I’ve seen it time and time again – bloggers who I diligently follow for daily fodder finally throw in the towel and sign off. Yet more often than not, they do come back. I am very happy to see this blogger posting again.

Oh, and I guess because it is raining, surf is on hold.  Hmmm…

Happy Thanksgiving.

Still Sick.

Despite my determined will to be better so that I could paddle out this weekend, alas, I am not and did not….paddle out this weekend that is.  I spent the entire weekend in bed. How rad is that? Well, I am still determined to paddle out on Thanksgiving morning because that is tradition. It is supposed to rain on Tuesday, but I just came from the doctor and got a bunch of antibiotics, so I should be all good to paddle out in the urban run off.  Why not?  Why the fuck not!

Surf Check.

Small but beautiful morning.  Felt amazing to breathe in the morning (qualified) fresh air at the beach.  Hmmm.  I’ve missed the water.  Maybe tomorrow.  Yes, definitely tomorrow.  Nomats.

Overdue.

I know, I know. I have been a bit remiss about blogging this week. I have been sick and, well, blogging and being sick ne s’entendent pas tres bien ensemble. I just haven’t felt anything worthy of writing about. Cobwebs in my brain. I haven’t surfed in forever.  I feel weak and wimpish now.  Hope to be able to surf this weekend.  We’ll see.  Good news is that the tattoo is almost completely healed and looks great.

Avoiding temptation.

Looks like it is going to be a golden weekend for surf. Weather is spectacular, some swell is in the forecast and there should be some good offshore winds as well.  Could be epic.  Unfortunately, I still can’t paddle out because of the tattoo (it is in the scab and peel phase of healing), so rather than torture myself, I am heading out of town for the weekend. I figure if I put enough distance between me and the ocean, then I’ll avoid the temptation to paddle out. I remember a few years ago when I had just got a tattoo, I was skating along the boardwalk in the morning and Venice was going off….one of those rare, perfect, peaky, offshore days that Venice sees only a few times a year.  I ended up skating home and grabbing my board to paddle out even though it was still too soon after getting the tattoo.  I just couldn’t pass it up. Fortunately, the tattoo healed without incident, but I don’t want to risk it.

Sad to miss surf this weekend, but there will always be more waves.

Venice Pier today.

Another beautiful morning in Venice.  Unfortunately, the shape was, once again, less than desirable after two days of what I heard was really good surf in Venice.  The bottom is all jacked up and the sandbars are screwy.  There is a lagoon from the high tide and then a steep slope causing alot of back suck and bump.  Still, Erin paddled out for about 45 minutes while I played house photographer since I can’t paddle out this week.

She did the best she could with the sketchy shape.  Made a few good drops.

Had a decent right here and decided to end on a positive.

And a little local Venice color to brighten up your morning.

More on the new tattoo.

I did a quick surf check this morning and it looked really good at the pier.  Beautiful morning, offshore winds, head high waves and decent shape.  The high tide was starting to slow things down and create a bounce, but there were alot of people in the water. And it should only get better later this week.  It is supposed to get warmer and surf is supposed to jump up in size. Of course I can’t surf this week! Of course! Because of the new tattoo, I have to stay out of the water for at least a week to avoid any chance of infection.  Of course!  My timing is impeccable.

Realized I didn’t give a proper shout-out to my tattoo artist, John Saletra, so thought I would throw up this picture of us post-needling.

I heart John so much. He is amazing.  His color work is beyond beautiful, and his artistry is so very personal.  It is only because of him that I continue to get tattoos.  I trust him implicitely.

So, enjoy the surf this week and catch some fun ones for me.

Marriage, babies and a tattoo.

Ok. We have alot to cover this morning.  It was a very busy weekend and surfing was only a minor part of it due to the howling onshore winds yesterday which made it impossible to paddle out.  Let’s see.  Let’s start with the marriage of nerds #1 and #2.  A small, beautiful ceremony on the beach Saturday.

As Best Man, I picked up BP in the morning to go for a surf while Annika got ready.  We paddled out at Porto and had a few fun waves before the tide dropped.  As a friend said, it was small but shapely for about the first hour.  After surf,  I took him to the beach as we waited for her arrival, and then I quickly jumped into my role as photographer and snapped away.  It was such an amazing day and they both looked so adorable.

Annika had her other friend, Andrea, attend the ceremony as well, so it was just the four of us along with the Minister.

The nerds that they are.

On Friday night, they hosted a small dinner party with some of their closest friends in attendance including, Brook, one of Annika’s very close friends.

Brook was past-due pregnant and absolutely huge.  She sat on the floor quietly stroking her big overdue belly, and then at one point, she got up and propped herself against the door jam and stood there saying nothing. I looked over to her and she was ghost white.  I asked her if she was ok, and she looked over to her husband who was sitting next to me and said, “I think it’s starting.”  She stood there sort of laughing nervously saying she wasn’t sure, and then another contraction hit and she went ghost white all over again. Seth quickly got their things together and they left.  Annika got the text message at 6:30 am that they had an 8 pound baby girl!  A marriage and a baby all on the same day.

So then, yesterday afternoon I had my tattoo appointment.  I added water, waves and cherry blossoms to an existing tattoo.

The entire tattoo took about 2 1/2 hours. Last night sleep was difficult.  Today wearing pants is difficult.  But I am so happy with the results.